


A King is Always Better With a Queen By His Side

by SathTrash



Series: Loneliness Ends [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Before the Crew, Companion Piece, Engagement, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Femme Jack, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Geoff's an Idiot, They love each other so much, companion to Loneliness Ends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 09:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13478217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SathTrash/pseuds/SathTrash
Summary: Geoff's acting weird, weirder than usual, and Jack can't figure it out, is he just getting restless, or is he leaving? Neither one seems good to her, but little does she know he's planning quite the opposite or leaving.





	A King is Always Better With a Queen By His Side

**Author's Note:**

> I just REALLY needed to write their engagement. I left it out of the full fic, "The Loneliness Ends and A New Life Begins" for pacing reasons, but I just n e e d e d to put this out there somewhere. This can be read on it's own, but it's better read as a companion piece to Loneliness Ends between Geoff and Gavin's chapters to understand their relationship development more.

Jack had always considered her relationship with Geoff to be extremely strong. They worked hard together, took each other seriously, and knew how to treat the other right. They had both given the other a reason to stick around this city, and they both knew they needed the other in a way that neither of them had ever thought they’d need a person. Jack had never felt truly alive until she had met Geoff, and she knew that Geoff had never felt truly at peace until her. Their relationship was built on trust and a strong respect for each other’s strength and weaknesses.

They were happy together, and Jack couldn’t have imagined what it was like to be without him after she had him, it was an impossible idea, to have to deal with a life without him.

So, when it seemed like Geoff was starting to pull away from her, she had no idea what to do.

It started slowly, he would be late coming home for dinner, or he would make vague excuses to be out in the evenings without her, he needed to case a spot, he was meeting Burnie about a job, a buddy of his needed his advice on something they were working on. And she didn’t think anything of it, they both did work in their world without the other, Jack was often called by others to lend a hand patching someone up in some of the small local gangs, or working in homeless shelters lending her medical skills to those who needed it, she trusted him, and knew that he wasn’t up to anything untoward, because she’d be able to tell, she knew she would, because Geoff was an awful liar when it came to those he loved.

The first time she felt that something was really off was after a job.

They’d pulled a small scale assassination, it was nothing big, they mingled at a party, Jack got the guy alone, and left him in a back room with a bullet hole in his chest. It was no big deal. But they still liked to celebrate together after a job well done.

But Geoff took off.

He said that he needed to go do _something_ , mumbled about how it was important, and took off after he’d dropped Jack at the apartment, leaving her dazed and confused in a tight cocktail dress she’d gotten just so he could take it off her at the end of the night, and disappeared. So she took herself into their room, cleaned her gun, and curled up in their bed in one of Geoff’s old shirts, trying to process what had just happened, and keep the tears in all at once.

He had hurried out without so much as an I Love You, and he never did that. They never left without saying I love you, they worked in a dangerous profession, and lived in a rough area, there was always an underlying nervousness that one or the other may not come home.

When Geoff came back in the early hours of the morning Jack was still lying awake in their bed, but instead of starting a confrontation she had no basis for she pretended she was asleep as Geoff changed out of his suit, crawled into their bed, and pulled her gently against him, wrapping his body around hers.

And she could almost relax.

But he smelled like a perfume she’d never smelled before, and even as Geoff fell quickly asleep behind her she couldn’t turn her brain off.

He wouldn’t.

He wouldn’t do that. He didn’t have it in him to even think about cheating. He’d mentioned once vaguely that an old girlfriend had cheated on him once, and it had left him quite scarred, it was partially why it had taken them so long to admit their feelings, Jack was simply scared at the depth of her affection, but Geoff was terrified of being burned again. It was so out of his nature that Jack couldn’t accept even the thought of it, he wouldn’t do that, ever, no matter what else was happening, it wasn’t that.

But all she could think of were all of his evening rendezvous and being late getting back, and how he left that night without an I Love You.

And she felt like she would drive herself completely insane if she kept thinking about it, so she pushed it back as much as she could, and turned to face him, pressing her nose against his neck where he smelled most like himself; his sandalwood cologne, gun oil, warm musky skin, the scent of her own soap from the shower they’d taken before they left, and forced herself into a restless sleep, still able to smell a floral perfume she’d never wear on the collar of his t-shirt.

-

It was a few days later, and a dip in Geoff’s suspicious activities that proved to her that she really knew him as well as he thought. It was a warm Saturday in late March, and Geoff was intent on getting out of the house for some reason. He was practically tugging Jack out by her wrists, with plans for a nice lunch and a hike up Mount Chiliad. It wasn’t an uncommon practice, they both loved being outdoors, and the top of Chiliad’s hiking trails had some of the most beautiful views of the city, you could see straight out to the ocean with how high it was. Even if it was a bit of a drive from their place, they tried to go often.

But after all the weird distance Geoff had put between them made her uncertain, she wondered if this would be one last outing before he kicked her to the curb for whatever woman smelled like that floral perfume. He was too excitable, bouncing on the balls of his feet, usually heavy lidded eyes wide and bright, he couldn’t seem to stand still as he hurried Jack to get ready, trying to get her to move faster right up to bringing her her hiking boots as she was still pulling on her pants.

Something was going on, and she couldn’t put her finger on it, so she went along with it, slid a hair tie around her wrist, slipped her pistol in the large cargo pockets of her capris (just in case) and tied on her boots, and followed Geoff out to his beat up old truck.

“Where are we going for lunch?” Jack asked.

“That Chinese place you like, I can never remember the name” he said as they pulled out of the parking lot. Jack nodded slightly.

“You okay baby? You seem… hyper” she said, trying to keep her tone casual.

“Do I?” He asked, frowning slightly in the rear view “I’m fine babe”

“You sure?” she asked, placing a hand gently on his thigh. He took it and squeezed her fingers gently, glancing over at her and smiling.

“I am, promise” he said, but there was an edge to his voice that Jack knew too well, it meant he was nervous about something, but what she didn’t know.

“Alright” she said, smiling back, she couldn’t help it, seeing him smile like that was just contagious.

-

Their lunch was relaxed, the Chinese place was familiar and comforting, they always ordered from that restaurant after jobs as a little celebration, just a little tradition between the two of them that had grown up after her very first heist with him. And it felt like an ending somehow to Jack, one last day out, one last meal at their traditional spot, one last hike up Chiliad, and then it would be over. She wasn’t sure if it meant their romantic relationship, or their relationship in general, but the very idea of having to go back to her life without Geoff made her feel sick enough that she couldn’t finish her fried rice, and she noticed that Geoff didn’t seem to finish his food either, and that seemed to solidify something for Jack.

Whatever was coming, even Geoff was nervous.

After their lunch, they drove out to Chiliad, the radio droning quietly in the background, and neither of them seeming to be able to get any words out, but somehow the silence didn’t feel oppressive, it was familiar, comforting, and when Geoff’s hand snuck across the center console and took hers she held on tightly, like a drowning woman clinging to a rock.

Geoff was home, he was safety, and love, he was her whole world and the thought of that ending made her feel helpless, like she was lost in the dark and she couldn’t find a light, she was stumbling blind and couldn’t do anything to end it.

When they’d parked Geoff practically pulled her out of his truck, laced their fingers together and led her to the trail, and Jack was powerless to resist. She would follow him into Hell with a smile on her face, and if this was going to be their last outing she wanted to enjoy it as much as she could.

She followed him up, keeping a tight hold on his hand.

Periodically as they walked her would bring her hand to his lips and kiss the back softly, it was common practice for them. She had no idea how they had fallen into this, but kissing hands was familiar to them, comforting, it was a simple gesture, they’d kiss palms while working, backs of hands and fingers while cooking together, or tidying around the house. It was a comfort to them that they had both discovered almost completely at random and had kept up without fail.

Those kisses were a reassurance that settling the nerves in her stomach, without those she would have been dreading the end of the hike, but it gave her hope that she was just being paranoid.

Every so often she noticed that he was making awkward movements with his other hand, brushing at the pocket of his jeans, hooking his thumb into the pocket, shoving his hand into his pocket, wrapping his fingers around something.

She couldn’t tell what that was about, and it didn’t look big enough to be threatening, but he seemed nervous every time he touched it.

“You okay babe?” she asked, looking over at him, seeing him a bit red in the face from the incline they were taking.

“Perfectly fine Jackie” he said, smiling at her, and that settled her even more, he was the only one who had ever called her Jackie, it was like a pet name to them, in the same way that she’d call him King or he’d call her Queenie in their every day life, or sometimes Geoffrey when she was particularly pleased at a surprise.

“If you say so baby” she said, lifting their joined hands to her lips and kissing his knuckles softly.

It was another twenty minutes before the reached the top of the trail, they stood side by side looking out at the horizon, holding hands. Geoff started to fidget again and Jack glanced over at him, watching him clench his fist around something in his pocket, and frowned slightly, he seemed nervous, more nervous now than he had been earlier. After a long moment of silence staring out to the water Jack turned slightly, assuming it was time to go, but Geoff stayed still, tightening his grip on her hand.

Confused, Jack turned around to look at him, a question on her lips, until she saw him, and the confusion died there.

Geoff was down on one knee in the dirt, holding her hand tightly, staring up at her with a grin on his face.

“Geoff” she managed to get out, but he cut her off.

“I know I’ve been acting weird recently babe, but I had a good reason” he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket, it was a pale dusky pink velvet that somehow matched the box he’d gifted her the pearl pistol in, and she blinked in confusion as he pulled his hand away and opened the box.

Inside was a silver ring with a small white stone at it’s center, and two smaller ones on either side, a piece of garnet, and an extremely adorable small pearl. Jack’s breath caught in her throat, and she had no idea what to say, and then Geoff started talking.

“I know you’ve gotta put up with a lot with me Jackie” he started, smiling up at her “And I don’t thank you enough for everything you do with me, for everything you’ve helped me with, and for helping to make me who I am now. You are everything to me Jack, you are my entire world, all the money, all the infamy, it would be worthless without you by my side, you are what made my life worth living when I had nothing else, you took a poor idiot from Alabama and loved him so hard you made him one of the best criminals in this city just because you gave enough of a shit to make sure I stayed alive to keep working. You, Jackie, are the most important thing in my world, and I would be nothing without you here, without you as my partner in both crime and in life” he paused and took her hand tightly in his “So, Jacklyn Shannon Pattillo, I’m asking you to take one last big leap of faith with this idiot, and be my wife, my partner in crime for the rest of my life. I’m asking you to keep putting up with me until we’re old and grey and we’ve finally got that ocean view that you deserve. Will you do me the absolute honour, and marry me, my Queen?” he asked, his voice choked up as he grinned up at her, those blue eyes that felt like home to her shining with tears.

“Yes” she gasped out, tears streaming down her cheeks, Geoff grinned up at her and slid the ring on her finger, and kissed it softly, before pushing himself up, and pulled her tightly against him, kissing her gently.

“I love you so much Jackie” he said softly as they pulled away, cupping her face in his hands, gently rubbing the tears away with his thumbs.

“I love you too” she said, her throat tight, and turned her head to kiss his palm softly.

When she had finally calmed down and wiped her tears away they made their way slowly back down the hiking trail.

“So this was why you kept disappearing, and coming home late” she said quietly.

“Yeah, I was trying to pick something out and then I had to hide it with Burnie and them so you wouldn’t find it, because you’re too perceptive, especially about me”

“You definitely had me fooled” she said, biting her lip “That night, of that party job, where did you disappear than?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Burnie’s” he said, rubbing his neck “I went to pick the ring up from him, because I wanted to wait till after that job to propose, just in case” he said. Jack nodded slightly.

“Why did you smell like perfume?” she asked, trying to keep her voice level. She saw a wave of embarrassment flash over his face, his cheeks flaring red.

“I broke a bottle of his girlfriend’s perfume” he said “she left a bottle on the dresser where Burnie had put the ring and I was so nervous that I knocked it on the floor and smashed it” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “Burnie didn’t warn me that it was glass, and well, I was jittery, I didn’t want to ruin this whole thing with you, and I just smashed it”

“You broke a bottle of Ashley’s perfume?” Jack asked, trying not to laugh. No wonder he had reeked of it, if it had been from someone else it wouldn’t have been so noticeable.

“Yeah yeah, laugh all you want, Burnie made me pay her back for it” he said, sighing heavily as she burst out laughing.

“God Geoff, you had me so scared” she said, running a hand through his hair.

“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

“God, I just, it’s stupid and it was insecure of me, but I was so scared that you were going to leave me” she said, feeling almost embarrassed “You forgot to say you loved me when you left that night, and then you came back smelling like a floral perfume I’d never wear, and you were acting so distant and weird” she said.

“I’m sorry babe” he said, his brows furrowed “I-I didn’t realize I was doing that, fuck I’m stupid!” he said, putting his face in his hands, his movement halting. Jack stopped as well and stepped in front of him, gently taking his hands in hers and pulling them from his face.

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it, and I understand now why you were acting like that, it was stupid of me to even think it, I know you’re not that kind of guy” she said “You’re a good man Geoff Ramsey, an honest man for what you do for work, it was my own insecurity that was at fault, not you” she said, kissing his palm softly. Geoff gave her a small smile and hugged her tightly.

“You put up with way too much shit” he said, kissing her head softly.

“You’re damn right I do” she said, smiling “And I’m happy to keep putting up with your bullshit babe. A King is always better with his Queen by his side.”


End file.
